Ike Amos
28 October 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Thursday, said its upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, has achieved a 100 percent local content input in the development of Oredo Integrated Gas Handling Facility.
In a statement in Abuja, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, declared this during a tour of the NPDC’s Oredo Flow Station, Oredo Gas-to-Pan-Ocean Facility, Oredo Integrated Gas Handling Facility, IGHF, as well as the Oredo Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, Dispensing Facility, all in Edo State.
Baru noted that he was proud that a world-class facility was being put in place by a Nigerian engineering contractor in conjunction with another Nigerian company.
“From engineering, construction to the erection of the various units, we feel very encouraged by the huge man-hours which you are putting in here, day and night, with full local content,” Baru noted.
He described the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 111, where the gas projects are located, as one of the most significant assets of the NPDC because it is where the corporation’s staff and their contractors to design, build and operate facilities hitherto operated by the International Oil Companies (IOCs).
“You could see that right from the well-design through to reception of the various liquids to the processing and disposal of the various outputs, it is fully indigenous. So, it cannot be better than this,” he added.
He said as a National Oil Company, NOC, the corporation was using this to showcase its ability to intervene, stressing that the NNPC was not just a player, but also involved in building capacity that can enable it to intervene by taking over any assets whenever any contractor decides to opt out.
Baru stated that the project’s funding constraints would be addressed soonest, stressing that NNPC was considering alternative means to support and complete the project.
“All these projects are located within OML 111, one of our critical assets which we are keen on deriving maximum benefits from,” he stated.
The IGHF, the NNPC said, was currently at 80 percent completion, adding that when completed in December, would make provision for dehydration of gas and liquid extraction.
It also added that it was expected to also produce both Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, and Propane, in addition to dry gas to the Escravos Lagos Pipeline System, ELPS.
Also speaking, Managing Director of the NPDC, Mr. Yusuf Matashi, commended the Board of the company for coming down to inspect the gas facilities, saying it was the first time the company was witnessing a highly-synchronised support towards these projects.
He said the LPG Dispensing Facility strategically offered 40 percent solution for Nigeria’s domestic LPG market which would translate into extra cash flow for the company.
“Another advantage is that it will ensure ease of distribution and penetration into the market. You can take LPG to every nook and cranny of the country from here. So, it is quite strategic,” he noted.
Matashi said in line with NPDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, efforts, the company had engaged youths within the host community area, with a number of them fully involved in the local contracts around the project as well as the pipeline Right Of Way, ROW.
“We have also completed a Skills Acquisition Centre which is currently being furnished in line with the component of the project. We intend to commission the centre even before the project is completed. From our records, this is one project that has engendered a cordial relationship with the Oredo community and we hope to replicate similar understanding in other areas within the Niger Delta,” Matashi stated.
In his remarks, the NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, Mallam Bello Rabiu, who expressed happiness that the project would be delivered within time and budget, also charged the workers to double the over one million man-hours achieved so far in the project without any incidence.
